Ald. Joe Davis posed with gangbangers in Facebook post

Ald. Joe Davis (in tie) posed in July with members of the notorious Wild 100s gang at a tree memorial to Joshua "Phat" Drake, who was shot and killed during a botched armed robbery in 2014. Davis, who is running for mayor, posted the photo on Facebook.

All the major candidates for Milwaukee mayor say the city has a serious gang problem.

But only one — Ald. Joe Davis — thinks the problem is that gangbangers don't get enough love and understanding.

Believe it.

In a stunning post on his mayoral Facebook page last year, Davis published two photos of his meeting with the Wild 100s — or Wild Hunnits — gang at a makeshift memorial for a member who was gunned down in a botched armed robbery.

"I have spent the last month building trust with these young men that they call 'The Wild 100s,'" Davis wrote in the July 25 post. "We judge without knowing their true story and unfortunately we judge them by the mistakes they have made in life, and not on their true potential."

He finished the lengthy post: "I may not be able to save them all, but I'll die trying. One thing is for sure. Uncle Joe loves you."

This week, Davis — one of the three major mayoral candidates — defended the post, saying he was using "unconventional" methods to try to reach out to Milwaukee's troubled youth.

He said he has no intention of removing the pictures.

"If I'm able to reach out and let them know that the path that they're on is not right — and if I'm able to get them to start thinking rationally — then I think that's good for the city of Milwaukee," Davis said.

Patrick Guarasci, a Barrett campaign adviser, said the Wild 100s are a "very violent gang" responsible for creating mayhem in the city by trafficking in illegal guns and drugs.

"It's frankly unbelievable and completely irresponsible," Guarasci said of Davis' actions. "One of the main tools this gang uses to recruit new members is social media. He might as well appear in a commercial for them."

The third major mayoral candidate, Ald. Bob Donovan, is running on a law-and-order platform in Tuesday's primary. The top two finishers will advance to the April general election.

Donovan declined to comment on Davis' association with the Wild 100s, which is based on the city's northwest side.

Last year, Milwaukee police arrested scores of Wild 100s members during two major sweeps of the city's streets. The gang, which migrated from Chicago through Racine, has been in Milwaukee for the past couple of years and has popped up in other Midwest cities.

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn referred to the group as "a lot of bad guys" during an April 2015 news conference.

"This group has been involved in an extraordinary amount of auto thefts, armed robberies, shootings, and even homicides," Flynn said.

Members of the Wild 100s were linked to the fatal shooting of toddler Bill Thao in December 2014. Last year, a jury convicted a man thought to be a Wild 100s member of killing 26-year-old Latrail Ball in a drive-by shooting in February 2015.

In an interview, Davis said he got involved with members of the gang after they set up a memorial on a tree in the 6400 block of N. 106th St. for Joshua "Phat" Drake. Authorities believe Drake was a member of the Wild 100s.

Davis — who represents Drake's northwest-side neighborhood — said police would take down the memorial to the former gangbanger each time his friends set it back up.

In addition, the veteran alderman said a youngster complained to him that Milwaukee cops would sweep through the area and make a number of arrests without getting to know anyone.

At a block watch party, Davis said he stepped forward and encouraged Drake's friends to clean up the memorial by removing all the liquor bottles at its base, something that he said sent a bad signal to children in the neighborhood.

"After about two, two-and-a-half months, I gave them an idea," Davis said. "And guess what they did? They took the liquor bottles down, and they planted a flower bed down below the tree. I told them how proud I was of them to take a leadership role."

The Facebook post and pictures were meant to celebrate the rededication of Drake's memorial, an event that was monitored by several police officers.

Of the event, Davis wrote on Facebook:

"Some of the young adults did not ask for the childhood that they had been dealt, but they survived based upon self taught principles. That is what their challenge has been all along, being taught by themselves."

Davis said he chastised some of the gang members, telling them that he knew they were "up to dirt." But he said he agreed to pose for the photos because it was important to remember the day as one in which they took a leadership role in their community.

Pictured with Davis in the photo are four individuals thought to be members of the Wild 100s, including one with felonies for drug possession and substantial battery, another with a battery conviction and a third who is considered a gang leader. All have had numerous run-ins with local authorities.

The memorial is no longer there.

Davis said many of these individuals grew up without fathers or fathers who cared. Now many of them have children of their own, he said, and they need mentors to help them break the cycle of violence and incarceration.

"Dan, these are some of the same kids, man, who are causing so much havoc in this community," Davis said. "They'll serve time and come back to the city of Milwaukee."

He added, "It's sad — because those kids look just like me."

Michael Crivello, head of the Milwaukee Police Association, issued a statement touting the benefits of offering young people positive alternatives to gang membership. His group has endorsed Donovan.

This wasn't Davis' first encounter with a felon during his mayoral bid.

In the interview, Davis said he found it "ironic" that he was being questioned about the Facebook post just days after he held a news conference to complain that Milwaukee police failed to respond to a records request about a murder last fall.

At the news conference, Davis accused the mayor and police chief of sitting on the records until after the election.

For now, Davis said he would not focus on who is trying to attack him. Instead, he said he will do what he can to help the youth in what he deemed a "broken city."

"What is the cost of us doing nothing?" Davis said. "We add to the mass incarceration, and we add to more kids growing up in poverty. I can't sit back and idly let that happen.

"I'm using unconventional methods, and I know people may disagree with me. But I've got to use everything in the toolbox to make this thing right in the city of Milwaukee."